Considerations:

• tipping is part of the price for using the services provided by service personnel
• tip service personnel; give gifts to professionals and salaried employees
• my ideal solution when you don’t know whether to tip or to give a gift is to give the American Express Gift Cheque because it has the cachet of a gift and the convenience of cash
• your budget, what you can reasonably afford to give, then to whom you have to tip
• whether or not you have been tipping the person throughout the year or saving it all for that one lump sum at the holiday time
• the quality of the service that has been provided and the attitude of the service provider
• how long you have been the beneficiary of that service
• how tony the address or establishment

Building:

• superintendent/building manager: $50 - $300
• doormen: $25 - $100
• elevator operator: $20-$50
• porters/handymen: $10 - $20
• garage: 1/3- of one month maximum

Household:

• housekeeper/cleaner: equivalent of 1 week’s salary
• nanny: equivalent of 1 week’s salary plus a nice gift
• baby-sitter: gift plus the average of 1 evening’s fee

Delivery:

• newspaper: $5-$15
• mail: ethically they should not be accepting a gift, but many will accept $5 - $10
• UPS: $15
• Fedex: no cash but a gift under $25 is acceptable

Personal:

• manicure: $10 - $50 (or the equivalent of 1 week’s charge)
• hairdresser: at least $25 - $100 (more if your weekly cost is more)
• masseur: $50 - $100
• personal trainer: $25 - $300

Restaurant (where you are a regular patron):

• maitre d’hôtel: $20 - $50
• captain: $20 - $30
• waitstaff: $50